


Escape the Night: The Clowns Here Kill Part 2

by Dede42



Series: Escape the Night Season 3 [3]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Artifacts, Balloons, Character Death, Circus Tent, Clowns, Disco, Drugs, F/M, Map - Freeform, Toys, hot dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27713080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dede42/pseuds/Dede42
Summary: Joey, Dawn, and their friends have been captured by the clowns! Will they be able to escape? Can Mortimer and Calliope be trusted? Can they cleanse the first artifact? And who will pay the price?
Relationships: Esther Bourne/Curtis Knight (OCs)
Series: Escape the Night Season 3 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916947
Comments: 65
Kudos: 4





	1. PROLOGUE: THE THIRD TIME

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yup, it's time for the next installment of ETN 3. Onward!

**PROLOGUE: THE THIRD TIME**

*****

Last year, Joey Graceffa was killed by the Sorceress, and found himself in Limbo, or the World Between Worlds. There, he found two members of the Society Against Evil and was told that there was a way for him to return to the land of the living, but only with the help of the Light-bearer and the death of his friends.

Joey was going to refuse, but when he was told what the full Deal entitled, he agreed, used his own blood to sign a contract that would bind him to the town of Everlock. If he was successful in his mission, he would remain alive, but if he failed, then he would be lost among the dead forever.

*****

Restored to life Joey is reunited with Dawn Hatcher, who was the current Light-bearer, and with the help of the Society Against Evil, she also traveled to the World Between Worlds. There she signed the same contract with her own blood after learning about the full Deal her friend had made, and another section of the prophecy was translated.

Now bound to the town of Everlock as well, it was time to invite a new group of friends to go on the mission with them to save the town from the Carnival Master.

*****

Joey and Dawn invited a group of eleven YouTubers to meet them in a particular location for a dangerous mission in the 1970s, and when night had fallen, they joined their friends at the location.

The group performed a dark séance, where, after they were all briefly possessed by spirits from Everlock, they were able to see the bridge and entrance to the town.

*****

When the group crossed the bridge and reached the entrance, they received a scary shock when a clown came out to meet them. After telling them about the carnival, the clown pulled aside the curtain so that they could enter, and they found an active retro carnival on the other side.

Mere minutes later, they were greeted by a man named Mortimer, who told them to enjoy the carnival before his mother, Mayor Janet, arrived.

*****

Although nothing seemed wrong about the town or the carnival, things weren’t what they seemed since the town folk were almost _too_ happy, and a strange gypsy woman named Calliope warned certain group members that _He_ was coming.

Events started to become creepier and stranger when Matt and Ro got on the ferris wheel, finding a newspaper with an article warning them about the killer clowns, finding that the clown that’d greeted them was one of the clowns, and they became trapped at the top of the ride.

*****

On the ground, things continued to go from normal to weird when the clown encouraged Joey to play a game involving knocking over milk bottles, and when he won, she gave him what looked to be a jack-in-the-box instead of a toy pony like he’d been hoping. Being told that when the box was open, the _real_ carnival would come out, and warned not to open it just yet, Joey, Dawn, and their friends gathered around to figure out whether they should open it or not.

Mayor Janet appeared at that moment to welcome everyone to the carnival and was soon in an argument with Calliope, who was insistent that the spell on the town wasn’t going to last forever, and that You-Know-Who was going to return. When the gypsy identified the jack-in-the-box as one of the Carnival Master’s artifacts, Mayor Janet insisted that she was lying and encouraged Joey to open the box to prove that it was just a toy.

Although the group was split on whether to open the box or not, in the end, Joey chose to open the Jack-in-the-box, and they all got a nasty scare when it opened to reveal a scary jack head with a sword in it, and something dark was unleashed since they could hear screams and evil laughter echoing throughout the town.

While the town folk were becoming uneasy, Mayor Janet was insisting that nothing was wrong, when she was grabbed by a clown from behind, and she was thrown to her death in front of the group and Mortimer. The clown, now in different clothes, appeared with hundreds of clowns that started killing people, and the group fled to find safety in an arcade with Mortimer.

Unfortunately, this lead to Roi, Colleen, Joey, and Dawn being captured by the clowns and locked in an RV.

*****

Working together, the quartet managed to free themselves from the handcuffs with numbers and a key, finding a journal that revealed that there was a ritual that would be completed at sunrise with the aid of corrupted artifacts, and Joey figured that the jack-in-the-box was one of the artifacts that they needed in order to stop the Carnival Master.

*****

Meanwhile in the arcade, Mortimer revealed to the group that the jack-in-the-box was, indeed, one of the artifacts used by the Carnival Master to corrupt the town for years and that the arcade was the clowns’ hangout. Searching the arcade, they found a box that was locked and, after activating a pinball machine, they were able to play the game and unlocked the box.

Inside the box, the group found a note and a shiny gear, one of four items that they needed in order to cleanse the artifact. They knew that they would probably have to leave the arcade, risk the killer clowns in order to find and replace the other items, and rescue their friends.

*****

Matt and Ro managed to escape both the ferris wheel and the killer clowns with help from Calliope. In a tent, they found pieces of a mirror frame that allowed them to turn on four lights, and find both a note and a key for something important.

*****

When Joey, Dawn, Roi, and Colleen tried to escape the RV, they got captured by the clowns a second time, and were tied to poles on the carousal. Eventually all of their friends were captured, too, while Calliope was knocked out by one of the clowns, and Mortimer disappeared with the jack-in-the-box. Now they need to figure out how to escape the killer clowns and get the box back.


	2. CHAPTER ONE: RESCUE AND A LETTER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Time to see if our favorite YouTubers can escape from the clowns. Onward!

**CHAPTER ONE: RESCUE AND A LETTER**

*****

The head clown started talking and gesturing to a green-haired male clown that didn’t have a shirt on, which meant that they could see his six-pack, and he was holding up a pair of large red dice that he was waving in the air.

“We're gonna roll our Dice of Death,” she explained, pointing a knife at the group, “and whoever's number comes up, I gut 'em! I gut 'em right here in front of your friends! Unless…" She cackled. "Unless Luke rolls a twelve, and then, then I let one of you go! Do you feel lucky?”

The head clown sneered as some of the YouTubers voiced hope that Luke _would_ roll a twelve, and she turned to the bulky clown, who was holding a square device with a big red button. “Here we go!” she cackled and pressed the button.

The carousal started spinning fast, making the group scream with terror since it was going faster then any of them had ever wanted to go on that particular ride, and many of them started pleading and crying to be let off.

“No! No!”

“Stope the ride! Stop the ride!”

“Let us off! Let us off!”

“Too fast! Too fast!”

“I don’t want to die!”

But their cries were falling onto deaf ears since the killer clowns were laughing, cheering, and jeering at the group as they spun past.

Both Joey and Dawn shut their eyes in defeat, which didn’t help with the speed that they were being spun, but they couldn’t bear to watch any of their friends die. They had gone through this hell _twice_ , and now, it looked like one of them were going to die before they could collect the artifacts and stop the Carnival Master.

_‘This is it,’_ Joey thought dejectedly. _‘One of us is going to die, right here, right now.’_

Enjoying the screams coming from their captives, the head clown nodded to Luke, who immediately rolled the Dice of Death, and called out the number that they’d landed on.

“Eight!”

Hearing this, both Joey and Dawn opened their eyes, and they were alarmed to see that the clowns were shouting and pointing at Nikita. Oh God! She was going to die if they couldn’t get off that carousel and away from the killer clowns.

Even Nikita was starting to freak out when she realized that the clowns were intending to kill her first. _‘Oh sure!’_ she thought. _‘They’re gonna kill the pretty one first! And that’s_ me _!’_

“You’re all gonna die!” the female clown with the nail bat cheered as the head clown pushed the button again, and the ride started to slow down.

Suddenly, they all heard the roar of a motorcycle engine, and to the group’s surprise and delight, a motorcycle roared into view, scattering some of the clowns. On it was Mortimer, and he was wearing a white helmet over his head. They all started cheering when he stopped, pulled out a gun, and shot the head clown in the arm, making her scream as she dropped her knife and fled.

When Luke threw a knife at Mortimer, he dodged it, gunned the engine, and drove his motorcycle up a short ramp and through the doors to a pub called Fat Man Slim’s. Parking his motorcycle, Mortimer stalked back outside, removed his helmet, and, after glaring at the clowns that’d been responsible for the death of his mother and so many others, he threw his helmet at one clown and fired his gun repeatedly at the rest, making them flee.

The group’s cheers grew louder when Calliope appeared and helped chase the clowns off by summoning and throwing fireballs at them, and when the carousal finally came to a stop after all the killer clowns were gone, Mortimer and Calliope boarded it to free the YouTubers.

Colleen was thrilled when Mortimer freed her first and she happily thanked him while hopping off the carousal, thrilled to be freed of the blasted thing. As each member of the group was freed, they quickly got off the ride and hugged each other tightly, glad to be alive.

Once Joey was freed, he hurried to untied Dawn, and supported her off the carousal since she was still dizzy from all of the spinning. Safiya, however, was annoyed that she hadn’t been untied yet, and called out to her friends to remind them that she was still there.

“Still tied up! Cool!”

Calliope hurried over to the young woman and freed her, too.

Once they were all freed, the group hurried back to the arcade, although Ro did pause when she saw that the Dice of Death were still on the ground. _‘I should take these,’_ she thought, scooping them up and hurrying after her friends. _‘They could come in handy.’_

“Get inside!” Joey ordered as they reached the doorway. “Get inside!”

*****

Once they were all inside the arcade, including Mortimer and Calliope, Roi grabbed the piece of wood and used it to barricade the doors after they’d been shut. They were safe, for the moment.

“Omigod,” Manny gasped, his hand on his chest. “We’re good? Everything’s good?” And the group all nodded and confirmed that they were ok, and still a bit dizzy from the carousal.

Mortimer was standing next to Calliope with his arms crossed, and he grinned at her in a boyish manner. “So it looks like we're in this together, huh?”

Calliope gave him a stoney look. “Sure looks like it, pretty boy.” And he just kept grinning at her.

“Ok, so what do we have altogether?” Safiya asked and was relieved when Mortimer handed her the box.

Joey took the journal out of his coat’s pocket, having figured it might be useful, and set on the tall table at the same time that Safiya put the box down. “We found this journal in the RV.”

“Ro and I found this note and this key in one of the tents,” said Matt, putting both items on the table.

“And I got the dice,” said Ro, adding them to the table, too.

“Do you think the dice go somewhere?” Jc wondered, picking them up.

The group decided to check around the arcade and when Joey opened the fridge in the back, he found some celery, but nothing that could help them figure out what to do next.

Dawn picked up the journal and flipped through it until she found something. “Guys, there’s a map in here,” she announced and they all gathered around, looking at it. “I think it’s a map of the arcade.”

“It is,” Matt agreed, looking between the map and the room, pointing to the back wall. “I think we need to go that way.” He went over to the back wall, checking it and he removed the bulletin board, revealing a square door in the wall. “There’s a secret chest or something, and I have the key,” he informed his friends as he gathered around, and he took the key from his pocket, having pocketed it earlier.

“Maybe that’s what the key’s for,” Teala suggested.

Figuring that it was worth a shot, Matt inserted the key into the lock and turned it. Once it was unlocked, he opened the door to reveal two large square holes. “I think the dice might go in here.”

Jc stepped forward and put the dice into the holes, finding that they fit perfectly. Hearing a clicking sound, they all turned, and saw that a sign on the top of the fridge, was lighted up. Wondering if this meant something, they went back to the fridge, and they could hear it running.

Roi opened the door and they all gasped to see that the interior was no longer that of a fridge, but was a secret passage instead.

*****

One-by-one, the group went through the passage and soon found themselves in some kind of lounge, where they all started talking at once, delighted by the new room, and they were sure that they would be safe in there.

“This is insane."

"This is everything! Oh, I like this room _way_ more!"

"This is much better!"

"I _love_ this room!”

There was comfy chairs, sofas everywhere, there were display cases on the walls, bookcases, and all kinds of decorations were on the walls.

“The furniture's _so_ cute!" Manny gushed.

Colleen fell onto a couch with a smile on her face. "Who cares about clowns?"

"Gosh," Matt commented, "it's like the ultimate swinger pad!”

After Calliope and Mortimer, who shut the door behind him, entered the lounge, too, the group began looking around to see if there was anything in the room that could help them, and Manny noticed that there was a map on the wall.

“Guys, there’s a map over here.”

The group gathered around the map, which Joey and Dawn noted had the symbol for the Society Against Evil on it, not that they were about to admit that they recognized it, and they examined the map to determine where to go next.

“So, we’re here,” Joey said,pointing to the arcade, and saw that there was a note on the upper left corner under the symbol. “‘The cleansing of each artifact will reveal more’.”

“Maybe there's something on the back,” Nikita suggested and carefully took the map off the wall, and on the back was a letter. “Omigod!” she gasped, surprised that she’d been right, and carried it over to the table at the center of the square couch. She laid it flat on the table and her friends gathered around, either sitting on the couch or kneeling on either side of the table. Once they were all settled, she started reading the letter.

“‘We were too late. Even with all of our Society's knowledge, we didn't understand the Carnival Master's dark plan’,” Nikita read. “‘To save Everlock, we froze it in time to give us a chance to stop him, but we were no match for his wrath, and our failure to bring a Light-bearer with us, was one of our greatest mistakes. Realizing all was lost, I used the last of my life magic to encase him in an amber prison. But the spell has reached its end. At sunrise, the Carnival Master will be released from his prison and will consume all life in Everlock. There are ten corrupted artifacts, which the Carnival Master draws power from. If they can be gathered and cleansed of evil, the Carnival Master will be weakened and can be slain with the Light of the Light-bearer’.

“‘However, the artifacts are protected, and whenever touched, their evil guardian appears. The final act to cleanse each artifact will require voting on two or three who must undertake a horrifying challenge that only one or two will survive. By sunrise, if the artifacts have not been cleansed and the Carnival Master slain, everyone in town, including you, will be destroyed’.”

This floored the group and they exchanged uneasy looks. If they didn’t find all ten artifacts and cleansed them, they were all screwed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, that's not good news. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	3. CHAPTER TWO: CONFLICT AND TEAMS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> The letter has been found on the back of the map, and things are tensed in the group. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER TWO: CONFLICT AND TEAMS**

*****

Once the shock of the letter had worn off, the group was soon in an uproar, and their primary targets were Joey and Dawn. In the last hour, they had gone from having fun to fighting for their lives against killer clowns. Now thanks to the letter, they now knew that they had to find ten artifacts that belonged to the Carnival Master, which needed to be cleanse, but only after someone ended up dying and they only had until sunrise.

“Okay, I thought I was gonna save a town, but now we gotta save ourselves?” Ro asked, still trying to process what they’d just learned.

“Yes,” Manny agreed. “I mean, hopefully.”

“You said we were gonna save a town!” Colleen raged at Joey and Dawn, making them both wince since she was shouting in their ears. “You didn't say we were all gonna _die_ _!_ ”

“I came for _puzzles,_ man!” Matt snapped. “I didn't come to, like, sacrifice my life!"

"I came for a _collab!_ ” Colleen added indignantly.

"I haven't even _met_ these…" Matt began and then gestured to Calliope while amending what he was about to say. "Calliope is a great person. You're phenomenal, Calliope. Thank you so much.” And the gypsy smiled in return. “But, like, the _rest_ of these folks? Why should I care?”

_‘Would you guess anything different?’_ Joey thought bitterly. _‘Our_ _friends have to die in order to cleanse an artifact! Hm! Where have I seen that before_ _?’_

“Guys, listen,” Dawn said, having expected this kind of reaction the second that the letter had been found. “Honestly, just _listen._ Do you really think that we would’ve asked you to come on a mission if we’d known about this?” she asked, gesturing to the letter, and the group started settling down a bit. “We knew that this would be dangerous, but not _this_ dangerous.”

“Dawn’s right,” Joey agreed. “We _didn’t_ know about this. And, after what Dawn and I went through the past two years, do you think we would do this to any of you had we _known?_ ”

Their friends exchanged looks for a long moment, especially before all of this, they had promised not to bring up the incidents of the last two years, and now Joey had brought it up, shaming them all.

“Fair enough,” said Matt. “So, now that we _really_ know what is going on in this town. What should we do next?”

Safiya opened the drawer on the base of the jack-in-the-box, and showed them what was inside. “According to a note we found,” she explained. “We need to replace four items to cleanse the jack-in-the-box, and we already have the gear. But, we still need to replace the spring and this turning thing.” And she pointed at the two dirty items still in the drawer.

“So, we have to find a new spring and a new turning thing,” Dawn remarked thoughtfully, tapping her finger on the map and felt something. “Huh?” She lifted up the map and found two white envelopes. “Ok, these weren’t here before.”

“What are they?” Jc inquired.

Dawn picked them up and examined them. “They’re envelopes and they have names written on them,” she said, showing them to the group. “Joey and Nikita.”

Surprised, Joey and Nikita took the envelopes and they all stood up, seeing that it was true: written in the same black ink as the letter, were the names of Joey and Nikita.

“Ok,” Joey said, a little unnerved as he opened the envelope and took out a note. “I’ll read my first. Ok. ‘The Jack needs a pleasant song so he's not so angry all the time. The clowns have one you can use, but they've taken it to their disco party, where they're guarding it. Proper attire is behind the yellow couch’.”

Hearing the words, “Disco Party”, Colleen grinned widely, and this got a few snickers. “If there’s a disco party, then Mama, _I’m_ ready!” she declared, earning a number of chuckles and grins from her friends.

Chuckling, Nikita opened her envelope and took out her note, reading it next. “‘The spring on the Jack has been corrupted with evil and must be replaced. The clowns have hidden it in a giant tent’.”

“Ok,” said Manny. “The scary tent.”

Nikita nodded and kept reading. “‘You have to rip the stuffing out to find it’.”

_‘Although splitting up is never a good idea, we’ll need to in order to find the spring and the song,’_ Joey thought, swallowing. “Okay,” he said, going into leader mode. “We only have till sunrise, so let's split up. Who wants to go with me and Dawn to the disco party?”

Colleen immediately raised her hand, grinning widely, and Jc, Teala, Esther, and Nikita also agreed to go while Matt, Manny, Curtis, Ro, Roi, and Safiya volunteered to go to the tent to find the spring.

Once the two teams were decided, Team Disco headed to the yellow couch, and Joey pulled out a brown leather bag that had the disguises that they needed.

*****

After making sure that the coast was clear, Mortimer lead Team Disco to where the Disco Party was being held in some kind of warehouse behind some of the shops, and they stopped at a nearby building to get the bag open to retrieve the disguises that they would need to wear in order to get access to the party.

“Seriously?” Dawn asked when they found red clown noses and white gloves inside the bag. “ _These_ are suppose to disguise us so that the clowns won’t recognize us?”

_‘Honestly,_ _’_ Joey thought, rolling his eyes, _‘_ _if these clowns_ actually _fall for it and let us into the disco, they're idiots_ _.’_ He took the noses and gloves out, passing them around to the team. “Ok, everyone put on red noses and gloves.”

Once they were all wearing the, er, disguises, they were ready to go, but Mortimer stopped them, taking a small orange bottle of white pills out of his jacket and handed it to Joey. “Hey wait,” he said. “Real quick. Just in case you need to…ah…get something from somebody, this is a strong sedative. It'll knock somebody out in a couple minutes, all right?”

“Should I use it?” Nikita asked and this earned her some confused looks from her friends, since it sounded like she wanted to use it on herself. “No, I'm saying, like, if I have to use it on someone," she clarified. "I feel like I could do it.”

“Ok,” said Joey, handing her the bottle and she tucked it into her jacket.

“You guys got this,” Mortimer said confidently as they headed for the building that the disco party was being held in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The teams have been formed, and there's a disco party to crash. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	4. CHAPTER THREE: DANCING AND COINS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for some dancing! Onward!

**CHAPTER THREE: DANCING AND COINS**

*****

Team Disco headed to the entrance of the Disco Party, where there was a clown standing on duty, and they all made a show of being excited to party with the clowns.

“Is this the disco?” Colleen asked in a flirtatious manner and the clown nodded, removing the red rope to let them in, and she lead the way inside, finding what was _definitely_ a disco party in full-swing with clowns _everywhere_.

There were clowns dancing on roller skates, clowns dancing without roller skates, funky music was playing at top volume, there were disco balls hanging from the ceiling, and every single clown was having a great time.

Colleen was _definitely_ in her element as the group spread out in pairs to mingle with the clowns while searching for clues of where they could find the song needed for the jack-in-the-box, and she danced her way over to where a clown was manning the music as the DJ with Jc at her side. “Hey, DJ!” she greeted with a wide smile. “Love this jam! Just checking! Looking around!”

*****

As Team Disco kept their eyes peeled for the song, Joey happened to notice a pink clown in high platform shoes dancing nearby, and this clown looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t place where. _‘Where have I seen this person before?’_ he wondered.

“You ok, Joey?” Dawn asked, noting that her friend was staring at the pink clown.

Joey blinked and then he nodded as they continued searching for the song without drawing too much attention to themselves. “What? Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s find that song and get out of here.”

Dawn didn’t look entirely convinced, but she nodded. “Ok.”

*****

Team Disco were both having a blast at the party while also searching for the song, and Jc noticed that a tall female clown, who’d been armed with a sledgehammer earlier that night. She was standing off to the side, swaying to the music, and handcuffed to one of her wrists was a black briefcase covered with stickers. She also happened to have a drink in one hand, too.

“Look,” said Jc, pointing out the clown to Colleen. “Uh, she has a briefcase.”

“That must have the song in it,” said Colleen, catching on, and they went to gather up their team to come up with a plan.

*****

Meanwhile, Team Spring headed to the largest tent in the area with Calliope to help keep watch. The moment they entered the tent and saw a large pile of stuffed toys on a table behind two stacks of boxes, and the “rip the stuffing” clue made sense.

Hurrying over to the table, they started grabbing and ripping apart the toys, and Matt and Roi even got into a game of tug-of-war with a toy sheep. Ro wasn’t happy that they had to rip the toys apart, but she did pick up a toy cow and began tearing off one of the legs. “I’m sorry, dolly.”

“It’ll be fine, Ro,” Curtis assured her. “Better we do this, then those nasty clowns.” And when she gave him a weak smile, he winked, and they went back to ripping apart the toys.

After several minutes, Matt was surprised when he found a silver coin in one of the toys. “Guys, I have a silver dollar."

"Oh, I got a coin, too," Ro said, holding up an identical coin.

"You have a coin, too?"

"Yeah, I got a coin."

Manny held out his hand, revealing that he had also found a coin. "I have a coin, too, guys!"

"Come on!" Calliope whispered. "You can do it!”

Just then, high-pitched laughter echoed through the tent, and they all went hiding behind boxes and anything else they could find as the meaty female clown with the spiked bat in her hand. To Manny, she looked like a Harley Quinn knock off, and while he was a fan of _Suicide Squad_ , he wasn’t in the mood to be killed off by an evil clown.

“I just wanna _bash_ a _head_ in!" the clown shrieked, whacking her bat against one of the benches, and she laughed. She wandered around the tent, searching for the YouTubers, who were hoping and praying that she wouldn’t find them and kill them. “Where are you, you little shits?”

_‘Please leave,’_ Ro thought fearfully from the box she was hiding behind with Matt and Curtis. _‘Please leave. Please leave. Please_ leave _!’_ She hoped her prayer would be answer.

*****

Meanwhile over at the Disco Party, Team Disco had come up with a plan, and they made their way over to the tall female clown, who was apparently named High Tower according to an overheard conversation. Colleen, Teala, and Dawn, who’d been talked into helping with the distraction, went up to the tall female clown, dancing a bit.

“Hey, girl!”

“Having fun?”

“Hi!”

While High Tower watched the three girls with interest as they danced in front of her, Joey made his way over with a cheesy grin plastered on his face, hoping that this plan wouldn’t blow up in their faces, and he made a request of the clown, gesturing to the beer bottle in her hand. “Hey, can I have a sip?”

“Sure,” High Tower grunted, handing the bottle over.

Joey beamed as he made a show of taking a drink from the bottle as he turned away. “Thank you _so_ much!” he said, still pretending to drink while Nikita snuck over, pulling out the small bottle with the pills, pulling a pill out. “Delicious!” he exclaimed as she dropped the white pill into the bottle, making the contents hiss a little, and then he returned the bottle to the clown. “Thanks for sharing!”

“Thank you,” said High Tower in a husky voice, taking the bottle back. “I appreciate it.”

“Yeah, thank you _so_ much,” Joey agreed, hoping that she would take a drink, and soon.

“I love your hair,” Nikita called out as High Tower walked away with her beer.

Just then, the head clown came over, having noticed the seven new clowns that she knew hadn’t been in the town before, and she was suspicious since they seemed oddly familiar. “Where are you guys from, huh?” she demanded.

“Um…” said Colleen, thinking fast. “From Clownville!”

“Clown-O-Rama, actually,” Joey clarified, hoping that the head clown would believe them and not recognized them. _‘Please believe us,_ please _believe us!’_

Colleen nodded. “Have you ever heard of it?” she asked. “It's like…across the river…"

"It's like downtown, across the river," Teala said quickly.

Dawn nodded. "Downtown. Yeah.” And luckily for their sanity, the head clown seemed to believe them, and walked off. “Whew! That was _close._ ”

“It definitely was,” Nikita agreed.

*****

Back in the tent, Team Spring was still hiding from the clown, who was still prowling around the tent, searching for them. “Come out, you sons of bitches!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Dammit!" She slammed her bat into the ground a few times before she headed out of the tent. "I'm coming to find ya! Mama's coming!” she cackled, laughing one last time before leaving.

Once they were certain that she was gone, they came out of hiding, and they went back to ripping apart the remaining toys until Roi also found a coin. Looking around, Manny spotted a box that had four coin slots on the top, and they gathered around it, preparing to drop the coins into the slots.

“Ok,” Ro breathed. “Ready?”

“I don’t see any clowns,” said Matt, making sure that they were still in the clear.

Manny nodded. “One. Two. Drop!” And they put the four coins in the slots at the same time, and the box popped open, startling them.

What was inside the box?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is inside that box? Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	5. CHAPTER FOUR: CODE AND ZERO-G MAN PART ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yup, time for another to see how things are going with our favorite YouTubers and their tasks. Onward!

**CHAPTER FOUR: CODE AND ZERO-G MAN PART ONE**

*****

Back at the Disco Party, the group was still pretending to enjoy the party to keep from being questioned by the head clown again, and Joey noticed that High Tower was taking a drink from the beer bottle. “Ok! She just took a sip! She just took a sip!”

Nikita, Dawn, and Colleen hurried over to the tall clown, who was starting to stumble a little, and it was clear that the sedative was starting to take effect.

“You ok, sweetie?” Dawn asked with an air of concern that she hoped would trick the clown.

“Wanna sit down?” Nikita asked, impressed with how quick the sedative was working, and she hoped that they could get the clown out of the party and outside before Hightower passed out, drawing unwanted attention from the other clowns. Plus, she wasn’t sure if they could carry her out if she _did_ pass out, giving her size.

High Tower shook her head, stumbling again, and the three girls worked on keeping her upright…for the moment. “I don't feel so good,” she groaned, feeling groggy.

“Come sit down, honey!” Colleen suggested sweetly as they started herding her toward the entrance, where they were joined by Teala, Esther, Joey, and Jc.

“Yeah,” Joey agreed. “Come sit over here.”

“We’ll take good care of you, dearie,” Esther promised.

High Tower was feeling _really_ groggy by this point. “I need some air,” she mumbled, and the team took this as their cue to get her outside and away from the rest of the killer clowns.

*****

Once they were out of the disco, the team guided High Tower over to the porch, and she stumbled up the stairs. “All right, over here,” she slurred, not really aware of where she was. “It’s over here.”

“Ok, just up these steps,” said Dawn, wondering how she and Joey had ended up supporting the tall clown up the steps. “Just a few more- whoa!” And the next thing they knew, the tall clown ended up slipping out of their grips and face-planted on the wooden floor, clearly out cold. “Ok, _that_ had _gotta_ hurt.”

“And unexpected,” Joey agreed, wincing a little. “Ouch.”

Mortimer came out of hiding as the team gathered around the unconscious clown to examine the briefcase.

“Ok, wait,” said Nikita, pointing to the numbers on either side of the latches. “There’s a code.”

_‘Of co_ _urse,’_ Dawn thought sourly and even Joey wasn’t looking thrilled. _‘We need a freakin’ combination…_ again _!’_

Joey looked at the stickers, hoping to find a clue that could help them find the combination, and spotted one that had pink circles on some boxes with clowns on top. “‘Watch the clowns dance from high to low’. Oh! ‘Watch the clowns dance from high to low’,” he read and frowned, confused.

“What does _that_ mean?” Colleen wondered and the team shrugged since it was odd.

“Maybe we should head back to the disco,” Esther suggested. “The answer might be in there.”

They all agreed and they headed back to the disco, hoping to find the combination and get out quick.

*****

Meanwhile in the tent, Team Spring peered inside the box and found a bunch of empty balloons, a comic strip, and a note.

Manny picked up the note and read it to the team. “‘Find Zero-G Man and solve his dilemma’.” He then picked up the comic and it quickly made sense. “Guys!” he exclaimed. “Omigod! We need to blow this up and make Zero Man fly!”

Ro eagerly gathered up the balloons, having experience with organizing parties, and the others began searching for Zero-G Man, but finding the hero wasn’t as easy as they’d hoped it would be.

Safiya went back to the comic, picked it up, and she read it as her friends gathered around. “‘I can't be here! I can't fly! Mayday! Mayday! We're going down! Please call Zero-G Man! Zero-G Man’!”

“Zero-G Man! Zero-G Man!” Manny called out and they looked around, hopefully, but none of the boxes opened.

Safiya double-checked the comic and saw how many times one of the characters said the name of the hero. “Six times.”

“Let’s call out the name together,” Matt suggested and, after counting down, they chanted Zero-G Man’s name together six times.

“Zero-G Man! Zero-G Man! Zero-G Man! Zero-G Man! Zero-G Man! Zero-G Man!”

This time a box popped open.

“Oh! There it is!” Matt exclaimed and Roi hurried over to the open box, reaching in and pulled out an action figure of a man in a green uniform with a yellow cape. “Guys, we gotta divide and conquer.” And he gestured to some nearby helium tanks. “You guys fill up the helium balloons. There’s helium tanks right there.”

Manny, Ro, and Curtis finished gathering up the balloons, plus a large bundle of white strings, and they hurried over to the helium tanks to start filling up the balloons. However, the moment that Ro filled up the first balloon, the tank made a loud noise as the helium filled the purple balloon.

“Omigod, that is _so_ loud!” Matt complained.

With the risk of the clown coming back, Curtis and Ro did their best to quietly fill the balloons while Manny tied them to the action figure, and when Ro was filling an orange balloon, it popped. Screaming, they all ran to find hiding places in order to avoid being found and, sure enough, the fat clown came back into the tent, having been drawn by the popping balloon.

“Come out and play, little chickadees," the fat clown said in a singsong voice as she wandered over to the stage. "Knock, knock!" And she tapped her bat against the stage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Great, a code to figure out and balloons popping. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	6. CHAPTER FIVE: CODE AND ZERO-G MAN PART TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time to find the code to the briefcase and get Zero G-Man to fly! Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER FIVE: CODE AND ZERO-G MAN PART TWO**

*****

Team Disco headed back into the Disco Party to look for any clues that they’d probably missed the first time around, and this time they noted that there was something on the four platforms that some of the clowns were dancing and making out on. On the sides of the platforms were pink dots in different numbers, and they were trying to figure them out when the head clown came over… _again._

“Hey! What are you guys doing?” she demanded suspiciously.

“We’re dancing!” Colleen said quickly and they all started moving around, hoping to convince the head clown so that she would go away.

However, the head clown wasn’t convinced. “No,” she growled, “I don’t think you are.”

“Yes we are!” Colleen insisted, grabbing both Dawn and Esther by their arms, and they climbed onto one of the nearby platforms, and they all started dancing the best they could, and the poor brunette’s face was going power ranger red.

_‘I_ can’t _believe that I’m doing this!’_ Dawn thought, once again wondering how she kept getting into these kind of situations.

*****

Meanwhile in the tent, Team Spring was still hiding from the fat female clown, who was cackling as she searched the tent for the source of the popping balloon.

“Hello!” she bellowed. “Come out and _play!_ ” And she just happen to wander over to the boxes that Manny was hiding behind. She peered around the side of the boxes and he quickly crawled to the other side to avoid being seen. This happen several times, and Manny was sure that he was screwed, when she finally started back to the tent entrance.

“I'm just gonna go tell her they're not here!" she announced. "They're not here." And she giggled to herself as she departed the tent.

Once she was gone, Calliope came out of hiding and moved over to Manny. “Ok,” she whispered. “Coast is clear.”

They all came out of hiding, worked on filling the rest of the balloons, wincing whenever a balloon popped, and they tied them to the action figure until there were no more balloons to fill. Hopefully it was enough to lift Zero-G Man into the air.

Both Roi and Matt began chanting quietly as Manny tied the last balloon to the action figure. “Zero-G! Zero-G! Zero-G! Zero-G! (Let's go!) Zero-G! (Come on!) Zero-G! (Come on!) Zero-G!”

Once the last balloon was tied onto the action figure, Matt picked Zero-G Man up and let go, relieved when the action figure began lifting into the air above their heads, and the team cheered.

Well, Zero-G Man was doing more hovering then actual flying and Matt, Curtis, and Roi blew upward to keep him afloat, almost getting bopped on the nose at one point, but the action figure was definitely floating, and seconds later, a small nearby box popped open.

*****

Meanwhile at the Disco Party, Nikita was distracting the head clown, along with two other female clowns so that they were rubbing up against her in a manner that was leaving her feeling _very_ uncomfortable, but if it kept the clowns distracted, so be it. Over at the platform, two male clowns pulled Dawn and Esther down to take them onto the dance floor while a third male clown got onto the platform and danced with Colleen.

This left Joey, Teala, and Jc to figure out the code that they needed for the briefcase. Jc counted the number of dots on each of the platforms and turned to his friends.

“Do we just count them from high to low?” he wondered. “But that would only leave us with four numbers." He held up four gloved fingers to prove his point. "So how does that make sense?” And Joey shrugged, along with Teala, who was looking lost.

Jc pointed to each of the platforms. “Like, if we counted everything on _that_ box, everything on _that_ box, everything on _that_ box, and everything on _that_ box," he continued, pointing to each box as he mentions it, "that's four numbers."

"Maybe those…like…a number could have two digits in it,” Joey suggested.

“Oh,” said Jc, and he got the solution. “That’s it.” He pointed to the platform that Colleen was on with one of the clowns. “They’re standing on two dots, so there's four on top. That's four right there. That's eight. That's eleven. So the last two numbers are eleven. One-one.”

While Jc was solving the dots on each of the platform, Teala went to get Colleen and Nikita while Joey went onto the dance floor to retrieve Dawn and Esther, and once they were all together, with Jc having the right numbers for the code, they all exited the Disco Party once again.

*****

Once they were outside, the team ran back to the porch to put the code, which Jc was repeating to himself so that he could keep it straight in his head. “Four-ten-five-eleven…”

“Jc, how did you figure it out?” Colleen asked, impressed since she’d been hoping that this was going to be her challenge to win.

“It was a math problem,” Joey informed them. “Jc, figured it out.”

“Good for him,” said Dawn, glad to be out of there since that male clown had been making moves that suggested that he’d wanted to do more then just dance, and had been relieved when Joey had gotten her off the dance floor. _‘I’m so_ never _going near a clown_ again _!’_

“Great work, Jc,” Esther said, thrilled to hear that they had the code for the briefcase.

Mortimer greeted them when they got back to the porch. “Guys!” he exclaimed. “I was worried!”

Finding that Hightower was still unconscious, Jc knelt down next to the briefcase, and he began to put in the combination. “Four-ten,” he muttered, putting it in the first lock, “and five-eleven.” He put the remaining numbers in the second lock. “Hopefully this will work.” And much to his relief, and the relief of his friends, the locks opened.

“Jc!” Colleen cheered.

Opening the briefcase, which was filled with silly string, Joey reached into a small pocket and pulled out a shiny cylinder, which they were certain was the song, and they ran back to the arcade to put it in the jack-in-the-box, hoping that their friends were still okay and would be waiting for them.

*****

Back in the tent, Team Spring hurried over to the box, and inside was both a shiny new spring _and_ a note. Safiya took both out and she started to read the note. “‘The artifact requires one more piece to be replaced-’”

“ _Here’s Sally!_ ”

Matt, who was definitely _not_ in the mood to reenact a scene from _The Shining_ , pushed at the others to get out of there. “Go!” And they fled as Sally the clown came in from the other side.

“Having a party without me?” she called out just as the YouTubers and Calliope escaped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had some close calls there. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	7. CHAPTER SIX: THE FIRST VOTE PART ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> In a bit of hurry this morning since I need to finish up my Christmas shopping. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER SIX: THE FIRST VOTE PART ONE**

*****

By the time that Team Spring got back to the lounge, they found Team Disco, no longer wearing the disguises, waiting for them, and they were all relieved to be back without anyone having been caught, or worst, kill. Having obtained both the song and the spring, the reunited group gathered around the table, where Safiya and Joey replaced the dirty spring and the dirty song with the brand new spring and the brand new song.

Once that was done and they were all seated on the couch, Safiya held up the note that’d been with the spring. “We found this note,” she informed them and then she read it. “‘The artifact requires one more piece to be replaced to be fully restored: a new Jack’.” This got some groans from her friends and she continued reading. “‘Two must be selected by vote to undertake a deadly challenge to recover it. Choose wisely. One of you will not make it out alive. For this unique trial, the two selected must choose a partner to fight for them’.”

She felt her heart sink, realizing that the whole needing to vote someone in a challenge for someone to die was true after all. _‘Why did Joey and Dawn bring us here?’_ she wondered. _‘Are they_ _on our side? Or are they just trying to kill us?’_

Hearing that the vote was really a part of what they were going to have to do in order to finish the cleansing of the artifacts, this got another unhappy reaction out of the group, and Matt looked past Curtis, Esther, and Teala to look at Dawn and Joey.

“So basically," he said angrily, "this whole 'save the town' thing is a big suicide mission that _you two_ brought…" He pointed at them, and his voice faltered with anxious disbelief that this was really going to happen. "Why? Why us?”

“Us?” Joey repeated, and both he and Dawn were looking scandalized. “You guys came here knowing _exactly_ what you guys were getting yourselves into!”

“The invites said that this was going to be a _dangerous_ mission,” Dawn added. “We – we just didn’t know _how_ dangerous!”

This got another round of denials and protests from most of the group, but they quieted down when Matt spoke again, and he was looking _extremely_ skeptical that Joey and Dawn hadn’t known about the risks that they all were clearly having to take. “There's a difference between adventure and certain death!” he snapped. “What do you know about this Carnival Master?”

“We were coming to save the town of Everlock,” Joey insisted. “Neither of us knew what that required, or that you guys were going to…” He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

“Die?” Colleen guessed.

“We know absolutely _nothing_ about the Carnival Master _or_ these artifacts until we found the journal in the RV and the letter that was on the back of the map,” Dawn insisted. “Had either Joey or I known that this was going to happen and someone would have – have – Lord give me strength – to _die_ , we wouldn’t have accepted this mission. Not after what we’ve gone through the past two years.”

Although the group was still skeptical of what Joey and Dawn were saying, they also knew that it was well-known that the actress wasn’t the best liar, and so, it was clear to them that she had to be telling the truth about not knowing about either the Carnival Master or the artifacts until all hell broke loose with the opening of the jack-in-the-box earlier.

Roi returned to the task at hand with the upcoming vote, and the first vote of the night. “So if the fighter loses, then the person who…"

"…chose that fighter…" Manny added.

Roi nodded. "They die."

"That's a lot of pressure!" Nikita exclaimed.

"That's _so_ much pressure!" Teala moaned.

"Wow," Matt muttered, clearly unable to process what was happening.

"So how are we supposed to do this?” Colleen wondered.

Both Joey and Dawn knew how they were suppose to decide, and they weren’t looking forward to it, even though they both had had done it twice by this point. “I think we're gonna have to-”

“Let's say this," Jc interrupted. "Are there any volunteers?" And silence fell over the group as they all stared at him.

_"Bitch_ ,” said Colleen, breaking the silence and they all cracked up, laughing.

Deciding that they should talk among themselves, the group scattered around the lounge to talk with each other in either private or in pairs of twos and threes, trying to decide who would go into the first final death challenge of the night.

Although Nikita was wanting to give both Joey and Dawn an earful of why she thought they were being idiots for accepting this mission and bringing them all here, she was more worried about getting out of the town alive, and decided to rip into them both later.

“All right," Joey said in a low voice that wouldn’t carry across the room. "So who has been, like, not, like, contributing a lot?”

Nikita thought back to the Disco Party, and who had been the most helpful in the situation. She knew she had done a good job with putting the sedative into the beer bottle, and had helped Colleen, Dawn, and Esther in distracting the clowns. “Honestly, I would, before this,” she said finally, “I would say Jc, but I think he proved himself in this round.”

“He really did,” Dawn agreed, and Joey nodded. “So, not Jc, so who? You, me, Colleen, and Esther did distract the clowns.”

“You all did a good job of that,” Joey agreed and nudged Dawn in the shoulder with his own shoulder and he gave her a sly grin. “Especially _you,_ Donny.”

“Oh Lordy, don’t remind me,” Dawn groaned, covering her face with her hand, and both Nikita and Joey snickered as her face went red at the memory of the flirting clown. “Shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given how this year has been going. Let's not @ Dawn and Joey too much ok? This year has been stressful enough in real life as it is. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	8. CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FIRST VOTE PART TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas yesterday, I know I did. I get some neat presents and I saw Wonder Woman 1984 with my sister, Mackenize. Now, I had intended to post yesterday, but I decided to take the day off.
> 
> Ok, enough real life stuff. It's time for part two of the first vote of the night. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER SEVEN: THE FIRST VOTE PART TWO**

*****

As the discussions of who to vote for continued, Curtis and Esther did move to one side of the room to talk privately with each other, something that they hadn’t had a chance to do before all hell broke loose, and they glanced over to where Joey and Dawn were now talking with Ro.

“The group is getting mighty suspicious already,” Esther whispered to keep from being overheard, especially by a certain brunette with sensitive hearing. “I don’t know how much longer Joey and Dawn can keep the truth from coming out.”

“I know,” Curtis agreed, hating that the YouTubers couldn’t know the real reason for them all being there. Yes, he and Esther already knew, but they had to act like they didn’t, and it was clear that having to keep it a secret was hurting both Dawn and Joey. “And with having to vote on who will go into the final death challenge isn’t going to make that any easier for them.”

“That’s for sure.”

*****

Meanwhile, Matt went over to where Teala was talking Safiya and Manny, and he shared some bad news with her. “So you know, I've heard your name tossed around.”

“My name?” Teala repeated, surprised and hurt to hear that some of her friends were considering voting for _her_ of all people. Ok, so maybe she wasn’t as helpful with the challenge as she could’ve been, but that didn’t make her the weak link, did it?

*****

“It is now time to vote," Calliope announced as the group resumed sitting on the couch. She was standing in front of them with a table full of cards. "Grab the ticket with the face of the person that you would like to enter into the challenge. I will shuffle, and then draw two.” And sure enough, there were thirteen small stacks of brightly colored tickets with their photos and their personalities on them. She gestured to Joey. “Joey, you may go first.”

Joey nodded, stood up, and he went to the table to choose. _‘This use to be_ so _hard,’_ he thought, looking at the cards with the photos of his friends, _‘but not anymore, not this time.’_ Having already come to a decision earlier, he picked up one of Teala’s cards and handed it to Calliope. _‘Sorry, babe, but the weakest needs to go first.’_ He went back to sit down on the couch.

Dawn went next, going over to the table to look at the cards and, hating herself for having to do the stupid vote once again, she picked up a Super Spy card. Taking a deep breath, she handed it to Calliope, who nodded, and she went back to sit down next to Joey. _‘I don’t like voting for_ anyone _, but this needs to be done.’_

One by one, the group took their turns of going to the table to vote for one of their friends, some of them were nervous, some were confident, but poor Ro was shaking like a leaf when it was her turn, and no one really blamed her since whoever the two people voted into the final death challenge, only one of them were going to to come back alive.

*****

After the last vote was casted and the group were seated once again, some of them were holding hands with their neighbors as they watched Calliope holding up the stack of cards that had been selected by the group. “I will now shuffle, and draw two,” she said calmly.

The group watched nervously as she shuffled the cards several times, and they were all wondering who among them was going to end up taking part in the final death challenge in order to finish cleansing the first artifact, and who wouldn’t come back alive.

Calliope finished shuffling the cards, drew the first one and, after looking at it, turned it so that the group could see. “The Hippie.”

Jc froze in his seat and the group gasped, shocked that he’d been voted for, especially after he had done _such_ a good job in the disco challenge.

“ _What?!_ ” most of the group yelped and exchanged bewildered expressions, wondering who among them had voted for Jc, who just shook his head with a stunned smile and hung his head between his legs for a moment.

Once the group settled down again, Calliope selected a second card, looked at it, and then showed it to them. “The Super Spy.”

Teala felt her heart sink, hating that Matt had been right about her being targeted, and while Manny gasped with shock, she saw guilty expressions among most of the group, which meant that they had been the ones to vote for her.

Calliope set the remaining cards down and spoke. “Please select a partner to fight for you,” she requested, “starting with the person who was chosen first.”

Jc had been thinking about that very thing ever since his name was called first, and he looked around the group to decide who he was going to choose to fight for him in the final death challenge. “Matt,” he said finally. “What's your attributes, man?”

Matt grinned and flashed his detective badge, earning a grin from the Hippie, but on the inside he was shaking down to his boots. _‘Oh God,_ I _voted for Jc,’_ he thought, hating himself for making that choice as he stood long enough to shake hands with Jc. _‘And it was clearly a mistake based on how everyone reacted. Now I gotta save him. Great!’_

Teala was disappointed that Jc had chosen Matt since she’d been ready to choose him, and she looked at the group, wondering who she should choose to fight for her. _‘There’s always Joey and Dawn,’_ she thought, _‘seeing how_ they _got us into this mess in the first place, but then again…’_ She looked at Safiya, who’d been fairly level-headed and was clearly smart. “I choose Sophia.”

Safiya nodded as they all stood to walk over and stand next to Calliope and Mortimer, choosing not to correct her on saying her name wrong.

As they got ready to leave the lounge to go to the final death challenge, Jc grinned and turned to his friends while pointing at Matt. “Yo,” he joked, “how messed up would it be if he was the one that voted for me?” And this got some nervous laughs, especially from Matt, who was once again mentally shaking in his shoes.

After wishing them good luck, the group watched as they all left, and they all were wondering who was going to come back alive.

Both Dawn and Joey hated that this was happening again, but they were also relieved that neither of them had been chosen to be partners either, especially since that had _never_ ended well the two times they’d been partnered with someone.

Of course now was the dreaded waiting part to see which of their friends were going to return alive, and whose blood was going to be on their hands this time.

Who was going to live and who was going to die?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The votes have been casted. Jc and Teala are going in with their partners Matt and Safiya. Please don't @ Joey and Dawn too much, please? Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	9. CHAPTER EIGHT: THE FIRST ELIMINATION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for the first final death challenge of the night. Who will survive? Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER EIGHT: THE FIRST ELIMINATION**

*****

Walking like a platoon of soldiers with Mortimer in the lead with the box, the four YouTubers behind him, and Calliope bringing up the rear, they approached the big tent.

*****

When they entered, they found the head clown, Sally, and ten other clowns waiting for them. There were four challenges set up running from the entrance to the stage, where there was a glass box set up with a friendly-looking Jack head inside and resting on a velvet cushion.

_‘That’s the final piece we need in order to cleanse the artifact,’_ Safiya and Matt both thought at the same time.

“I'm so jazzed you decided to show up!" the head clown exclaimed, laughing as Mortimer walked past her to stand next to the glass box with the artifact in hand, and she was holding two knives in each hand. "I _love_ this goddamn game. Gets me all wet inside!”

“Omigod,” Teala muttered as she and her friends all made faces while going to the same scary visual place.

“The first person through the four challenges win,” the head clown added with an evil smile.

Two clowns grabbed Jc and Teala, taking them to the stage, where they were both tied to a pair of wonder wheels that they knew were used to throw knives at, and while Jc seemed calm, he was shaking on the inside while Teala was outright terrified.

“Don’t tie him too tight,” Matt called out as he and Safiya took their places at the two tables, where two clowns were waiting to start the first part of the final death challenge. “He’s coming with me.” And he pointed to Jc, who grinned widely in response. _‘I’m going to save him, I will!’_

Safiya pointed to Teala, who was looking at her hopefully. _‘I’ll save Teala…I hope.’_

The clowns all sheered and crowed with insults at what Matt had said, but he was determined to win and save Jc, having put him in this situation in the first place. _‘I already_ hate _this mission.’_

“Begin,” Mortimer announced.

The first challenge was a guessing game, and both Matt and Safiya watched as the two clowns hid a red ball each under a metal cup and began moving the three cups around. Matt was familiar with this particular game since he had to guess which cup the ball was under, and if he failed, then he was going to get a pie to the face.

The detective watched intensely as the clown moved the three cups around, clearly hoping to throw him off, and when the clown stopped, he picked one of the cups. When the clown picked up the cup, the ball was underneath. “Yes!” he cheered and ran around the table to get to the next challenge, and Jc was cheering him on.

Reaching the second table, Matt saw that he was suppose to eat a total of five hot dogs, one at a time, and with all the trimmings. There was no water on the table, and he knew that those hotdog buns were going to be dry, plus it turned out the hot dogs were vegan. _‘Ugh, what’s wrong with meat?’_ he wondered as he began putting the hot dogs in the buns and covering them with ketchup and mustard while Jc kept encouraging him.

*****

Back at the first table, Safiya watched as the clown switched the cups around several times, trying to keep track of which one had the red ball, and when the clown stopped, she picked a cup. Unfortunately, the ball wasn’t underneath it, and she nodded as the clown picked up one of the cream pies and shoved it in her face.

_‘I can do this,’_ Safiya thought, doing her best to ignore Jc, who was cheering on Matt with the eating of the hot dogs, and Teala’s pleads for her to save her. _‘This is just a minor setback, I can do this.’_ She watched more closely this time as the clown put the ball under a different cup and moved them around several times before stopping.

Safiya chose a different cup and was relieved when the clown picked it up, revealing the red ball. “You win.” And she ran to the second challenge, where Matt was already halfway through his second hotdog. _‘Ok,’_ she thought, grabbing the first hot dog and began chowing down, along with the bun, _‘since we don’t have water to drink, how can I make it so that the bun won’t be so dry?’_

Her eyes fell onto the ketchup bottle and she grinned, she knew what she had to do. She snatched up the ketchup bottle and began squirting the red liquid into her already stuffed mouth, allowing her to swallow, and she could hear Teala cheering her on. She was going to make it.

Even the head clown was amused by what Safiya was doing with the ketchup. “I like her!”

“Me too!” Teala agreed, feeling that her odds of getting out of the final death challenge were improving for her greatly.

Both Safiya and Matt were working their way through the hotdogs and Matt was struggling a bit, but he wasn’t about to let Jc die for his stupid decision in the vote earlier.

“Hey, Doormat!” one of the clowns taunted. “Which hot dog are you on? Number one?”

“Three actually,” Matt shot back, and he was halfway through his third hotdog, having decided to follow Safiya’s lead with the ketchup, wishing that he’d done that from the start since the buns were _so_ freaking dry! Finishing the third hotdog, he worked his way through the fourth more quickly, and soon both he and Safiya were on the final hotdog.

Both of them were feeling sick by this point, Safiya had finished off the ketchup bottle, and they were both feeling like they were going to throw up. Unfortunate, the head clown saw this, and she started chanting with her fellow clowns.

“Throw up! Throw up! Throw up!”

Sadly, Matt ended up throwing up on the ground when he was halfway through his final hotdog, while Safiya grabbed a nearby pole to support herself, having shoved the last bite into her mouth, and when she managed to both swallow and keep it down, she nodded and headed to the third challenge with Teala screaming at her excitedly.

_‘Dammit!’_ Matt thought, struggling to finish off the final hotdog. _‘So much for my lead!’_

*****

When Safiya saw that for the third challenge, she was suppose to catapult a rubber chicken into a basket, she considered this to be the most ridiculous challenge yet. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the rubber chicken, put it on one end of the catapult, and stomped on the other end, sending the rubber chicken flying into the air – only to have it fall short of the basket.

Groaning, she grabbed the chicken and went to reposition it on the catapult as Matt _finally_ finished the last hotdog, and ran to start launching his rubber chicken into the basket while vowing that he would _never_ touch another hotdog ever _again_.

Grabbing the rubber chicken, Matt positioned it on the catapult, figuring out the physics pretty easily, and launched it into the air, with the chicken just _barely_ missing the basket. “Come on!” he groaned, grabbing it to try again, and to his horror Safiya managed land her chicken in the basket on her second try. _‘Seriously?!’_

Safiya ran to do the final challenge while Matt was struggling to get the chicken into the basket, coming close a second time, and she saw that she was suppose to knock down milk bottles. Grabbing the balls, she started throwing them, and she was impressed at how quickly she was knocking them down.

_‘I’m not normally good at this type of game,’_ she thought, and figured that it came from all the carnival games she’d played earlier. _‘Yes!’_ she thought when she knocked the final bottle over and the case with the new jack head popped open.

Safiya ran over to it as the clowns cheered, Matt froze and looked over at Jc, who was looking alarmed, and she grabbed the box from Mortimer. She frantically started turning the handle to get the jack-in-the-box open as quickly as possible.

“We have a winner!” the head clown announced, waving her knives in the air while Safiya was still frantically turning the handle. “And better yet, a _loser!_ ” And, before anyone could stop her, she began stabbing Jc in the chest repeatedly, making him cry out in pain.

Teala and Matt were both screaming in horror while Safiya finally got the box open, yanked off the evil Jack head, and replaced it with the nice Jack head. The whole thing glowed a golden color, and the clowns all collapsed as they evaporated into black smoke that quickly disappeared. The first artifact had been cleansed.

Unfortunately, it was too late to save Jc, who was slumped over, only the ropes on his wrists were keeping his corpse upright, and Matt was devastated to have failed in saving his friend, who was only in the challenge because of _him._

“I did it,” Safiya said, taking a note out of the case as Mortimer took the artifact from her while Matt, pulling himself together just barely, and Calliope hurried onto the stage to free Teala. “Ok.”

Once Teala was freed of the wonder wheel, they all fled the tent, hoping to have to _never_ go inside there _again_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP, Jc, you went too soon. I did try to even up things between Safiya and MatPat during the challenge so that they were closer in their respective leads.
> 
> And given how 2020 has been going, please don't @ Joey and Dawn too much for what happens in this chapter, ok? Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	10. CHAPTER NINE: WHO IS LYING?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for the final chapter and for more tension. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from _Escape the Night_. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

**CHAPTER NINE: WHO IS LYING?**

*****

While waiting for their friends to return from the final death challenge, Dawn felt the Light stir inside her and for a brief moment, she thought she saw her clasped hands glow briefly. _‘What was that?’_ she wondered when the door to the lounge opened, and she decided to worry about it later since it was now time to see who was coming back alive from the challenge. _‘Oh, I_ really _hope it’s Jc and not Teala.’_

Mortimer was first to enter with the jack-in-the-box, and the group gasped when Safiya entered with a dejected Matt, a relieved Teala, and Calliope bringing up the rear. But there was no sign of Jc, which meant only one thing, he was dead.

“What happened?” Colleen asked, although it was clear what happen, but she didn’t want to believe it just yet.

“Jc’s…” Teala mumbled sadly.

“Dead,” Safiya finished the sentence while taking the jack-in-the-box from Mortimer.

“They killed him,” Teala added, and her hands were shaking, both from being grateful for being alive, and guilty for feeling that way since Jc had been murdered right in front of her.

The group was floored since one of their friends was dead, and they mutely watched as Calliope picked up the card with Jc’s smiling face on it, and slipped it into a nearby ticket box. Matt sank onto the couch and put his head in his hands, and they all knew that he was hurting from his failure to save Jc from the clowns.

Safiya went to the many display cases on one of the walls and set the jack-in-the-box in one of them. She hated that Jc was dead, but they still had a job to do and only a certain amount of time to do it in. “All right,” she said, turning to them. “So this is our first of ten artifacts.”

She then rejoined her friends on the couch and took out the note. “Uh, I also found a note with the jack,” she added and read it to them. “‘Not everyone in town is telling the truth’.”

The group exchanged perplexed looks, wondering what that could mean. Was it one of the town folk not telling the truth? Or did the note mean something else entirely?

“Well, what if it’s one of us?” Colleen wondered, breaking the silence and more looks were exchanged among the group. _‘Could one of us be liar, and if so, who?’_

No one was sure how to answer that question, and Safiya did leave the lounge to find a rest room in the arcade to wash her face off since she still had cream on it from earlier, despite having used most of it while eating the hotdog buns.

While she was gone, the group split off to either comfort Matt over his failure to save Jc, and to talk among themselves.

Joey and Dawn went to one corner out of earshot of their friends to talk, and he could tell that the brunette was spooked by the note just like he was. Was someone trying to tip off their friends about their secret? And if so who? The two Society members who’d sent them on this stupid mission? Or the Carnival Master himself? Could he send a note while being locked it up in the amber prison?

“They’re going to keep asking you and I questions about why we brought them here thanks to that note,” Dawn whispered.

Joey nodded, having come to the same conclusion. “I know, but we can’t tell them – not just yet.”

“I know, but that’s not the only thing that I’m worry about, Joey,” said the brunette, thinking back to the Light and her hands glowing.

“What is it?” Joey asked, noting her uneasy look. “Are you sensing something?” He knew that his best friend had gotten better at sensing Darkness thanks to her training with the Society Against Evil, and it did seem like there was less Darkness in the air since the cleansing of the first artifact.

Dawn wasn’t sure how to explain what’d happen before their friends returned with the first cleansed artifact. “I’m not entirely sure if it’s connected,” she said, reflecting on what happen, “but it seemed like the Light reacted to the cleansing of the first artifact, and, although I’m not sure if it really happened, my hands glowed briefly, just for a moment.”

“Really?” Joey asked and she nodded, and this was news to them both since the only times she’d ever glowed without actually summoning the Light had been last year. Once when she was convincing Eva and Olli that she needed to go to the mansion to save him from the Sorceress, and a second time when they failed to get a gem after destroying the Ice Queen and she’d vowed to kill the Sorceress herself. “What could that mean?”

Dawn shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure,” she admitted, “but the Light seems to be stronger since the cleansing, and if this keeps happening with each artifact that gets cleansed then…” She didn’t finished the thought, and she didn’t have to since she could see that her friend was thinking the _exact_ same thing that she was.

If the Light was growing stronger with the cleansing of each artifact, pushing back the Darkness, and if that meant that Dawn would start involuntarily glowing each time, then their friends were going to start noticing, and that was going to lead to even _more_ questions about why they were all there. And if that happen, then their secret would come out into the open that much sooner, and they hated to think of how their friends would react if they knew the truth.

“I guess we’ll have to worry about that bridge when we come to it,” Joey suggested, and the brunette nodded.

The night had just begun and there had already been one death. They both knew that before the night was over, there would be more deaths, more blood on their hands, and hopefully they would have defeated the Carnival Master before sunrise.

To Be Continued…

*****

_I have so many, so many regrets._

_So many lies, so many broken ties._

_I wish for my old life._

_Wish I could fix my strike._

_Cause no one truly escapes the night._

_Oh, won't you help me escape the night._

_Oh baby help me escape the night._

_Escape the night._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of unanswered questions and it has only just begun. Bye for now! R&R everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Will they be able to escape from the killer clowns? Bye for now! R&R everyone!


End file.
